Rebels insist they are under cap

I'm calling bullshit on this and would like to see the Rebels books please. How could they squeeze under the $5.5million with those signings. Some creative ideas accounting or the players arent demanding much these days..

Rebels insist they are under cap

Wayne Smith

OCTOBER 16, 2018

As a 16th Wallabies player, Luke Jones, was announced as a squad member with a 17th, Quade Cooper, expected to be confirmed within days, Melbourne Rebels CEO Baden Stephenson yesterday went on the offensive and insisted the club squeezed in under the $5.5 million salary cap, if only just.

At face value, the Rebels are assembling not just the most powerful franchise in Australia but in the entire Super Rugby competition with, four props, a hooker, two second-rowers, two backrowers, a halfback, five-eighth, one centre, three wingers and a fullback already having played Test football.

And there is more … flanker Angus Cottrell has already been taken away on a Wallaby tour and is set to be capped in Europe on the spring campaign, centre Billy Meakes has been in and out of the Test squad, while No 8 Isi Naisarani does not become eligible to play for Australia until April but will surely be brought in for next year’s Rugby Championship. With Cooper set to finalise the main contracted squad, it’s a formidable outfit coach Dave Wessels will unleash on Super Rugby next year.

Yet Stephenson did point out some realities that critics of the Rebels have frequently overlooked. Of those 17 Wallabies, only six are frontline Test regulars — lock Adam Coleman, halfback Will Genia, five-eighth Matt Toomua and back field specialists Reece Hodge, Marika Koroibete and Dane Haylett-Petty, with wingers Jack Maddocks and Sefa Naivalu floating in an out.

Cooper’s salary will be half-met by Queensland, half by the Rebels, and even then Rugby Australia will contribute a sizeable slice to the whole as part of its Wallabies top-up. The same applies to other Rebels’ players on Rugby Australia’s PONI (Players of National Interest) list. And with Will Genia being nominated as the Rebels’ marquee player, it means that only $200,000 of his considerably larger salary will actually count towards the $5.5 million total.

Jones has volunteered to return to Melbourne from Bordeaux at bargain basement rates, being prepared to take a financial “haircut” for the opportunity to make a bold bid for World Cup selection next year, while hooker Jordan Uelese and Maddocks are very much being paid in line with their youth — they are both 21 — and not the fact that they have played two and five Tests respectively.

”It is probably better coming from the players but I suspect that those players we’ve developed love Melbourne and have loved the opportunity to play Super Rugby and a few have progressed onto Wallabies,” said Stephenson. “The guys we picked up from the Western Force aren’t on huge money but they believe in Dave, they believe in the rugby program and they’re certainly committed to the club and loving the environment. I’ve been little bit surprised that some of the other clubs having a nibble at some of our players.

“For the first time in my time (with the Rebels), we are tight on the cap, there is no doubt about that. But we’re putting together a fairly good squad.”

There will be some critical eyes on Wessels’ performance as coach in 2019. It would not have escaped Rugby Australia’s notice that so many of the country’s Test players are prepared to be paid “under the odds” to be coached by him. He comes off contract at the end of next season, right when the Wallabies will be looking for a new coaching team and a good performance from the Rebels could see him right in the mix.

Meanwhile, the Reds have bolstered their squad with the signing of Adam Korczyk. The 23-year-old flanker and Brisbane City NRC captain has agreed to a one-year deal and joins such stalwarts of the team as Samu Kerevi, Izack Rodda, JP Smith, Filipo Daugunu and Chris Feauai-Sautia in re-committing to the Reds in 2019.

Korczyk has made 26 appearances for Queensland since being first offered a contract in 2015 and was named in the Wallabies squad for the first two Tests of the Bledisloe Cup series last year.

Coach Brad Thorn has continued to bring fresh blood into the team, also signing three talented next generation players to emerge from the NRC, with Harry Wilson, Efi Ma’afu and Will Eadie all signed for next season.

Backrower Wilson, the QRU’s Under 19 player for this year and a thickset player causing a lot of excitement at Ballymore, and hooker Ma’afu are both expected to be named in the Queensland Country 23 for Sunday’s NRC semi-finals against the Western Force on the Gold Coast.

In other news, there may be some consolation for former Wallabies lock Justin Harrison after he just missed being chosen as the Rugby Union Players Association chief executive this week, with the position going to Prataal Raj.

France-based Harrison is regarded as frontrunner to take over the running of the Classic Wallabies program now that Stephen Hoiles has moved on to coaching the Australian men’s sevens side.

Not sure whether Rugby Australia is trying to suggest they think their team is totally pony, or that the players are all 'ponies (show, or possibly just singularly tricked, whatever), but surely they couldn't have come up with that by accident...?

Well hopefully Hodgo and Twiggy can get the WA boys back to the Force. Our Force side is going to need some extra grunt in 2019 to compete with Fiji and the Japanese sides. Come on home Haylett-Petty boys, Hardwick, and others. Plus Godwin, Peni, Jooste etc. Nobody can accuse us of poaching "their" players. And no salary cap problem in WSR.

With the number of players who also receive a RA subsidy via their Wallaby representations, I would suggest at least $2.7 mio in top ups. And, while I don't believe for one minute that they are under the salary cap, we will have to wait for the RA financials in April to see how much MRRU received via that channel

When was this PONI List created and what is the criteria? I am guessing the criteria is that "this one might break the salary cap so he will be a PONI". It makes the Salary Cap and Wallaby top up a complete farce. Why don't they just scrap the whole lot and then they don't have to keep making up this crap.

Me thinks PONI = Grassroots, and that is where the Force savings went. It obviously wasn't around when the Badge went to Japan.

Apart from here on TWF, who else is actually questioning their expenditure and why did we need the bullshit explanation?

While we are on bullshit, why was there never any official press release from ASIC about their investigation, it was only reported by the eastern states press, so how did they find out about it or how do we even know what they reported is actually true?

And what about the CBA cap on the number of players? Oh wait...Ross Xenos is there to advise them on that. Tim North, Rob Clarke and Ross Xenos. That’s a very useful trio to have on your side.

TIF - I asked ASIC whether their investigation had closed. They replied saying,

“ASIC has concluded all enquiries that were commenced as a result of matters before the Senate Committee and there are no ongoing investigations.”

When I asked what the outcome was, the reply was,

“As you are aware, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has been conducting an investigation into the conduct of the affairs of Melbourne Rebels Rugby Union Pty Ltd (formerly Melbourne Rebels Rugby Union Ltd) ACN 140 597 066 during the period 1 January 2014 to 31 August 2016.

ASIC has concluded its investigation. Following its investigation, ASIC has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to establish to a court that there has been a breach of the law.

ASIC may recommence its investigation, or commence enforcement action, if circumstances change, for example, if new information becomes available.”

There were two referrals from the Senate - one in relation to the MRRU and one in relation to the ARU. From the above replies, I have concluded that ASIC never even commenced an investigation in relation to the ARU. I guess we will never know why.

For the record, the recommendation regarding the ARU was that ASIC, “review the financial circumstances reported in the Australian Rugby Union’s annual reports against the evidence presented to the committee.”

Maybe someone else can write to them asking whether the second recommendation was ever looked at by ASIC and, if so, why they found no case to answer.

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Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby

Following Baden Stephensons bullshit statement after the Force axing ( we took a huge gamble not recruiting any players to fill our roster) . My bullshitometer is way in the redzone . But the other SR franchises might eventually start howling IF the Rabble start flogging everybody next season .
This in my mind is a big IF as it doesn’t matter how many star players you have ....if the team culture is wrong you’ll continue losing. Dave Wessels is definitely going to be under the pump ....

Probably just a word in there that raised a flag on their ever expanding list of hot-button words and swears. One bloke was saying he got binned for referring to Dick Marks, on a thread about the coaching panel. It is an interesting game staying ahead of it...encourages creativity.